When the Leaf falls
by Ellisama
Summary: What would happen if the invasion had been a success? Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata escaped, and 3 years after the darkest day in Konoha history, fighting back with some unexpected allies. Will Shizuka succeed? Naruhina Shikatema VOTE NOW: WHO HAS DIED?
1. Proloque: a Bitter Anniversary

YEAH, A NEW FIC! I finally decided I should write something again, and got a great new idea last night. So, READ! (and review)

Disclaimer; I DON'T OWN otherwise Itatchi would live.

So, in this fanfiction Itatchi is alive, and with the good guys! Also Sakura is dead, and so will be many others. You will find out why while reading.

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"speaking"

_"thinking"_

_/unspoken words/_

Proloque: a Bitter Anniversary

Silence, as the bitter anniversary took place. In a few seconds, the sun would have set and the memories would relive. Non of the 5 leaders spoke a word, because no words were needed. They all knew what had happened, and they all knew what had to happen today. Although not all of them were present 'that' night, all of them had lost something and someone precious. But most of all, they all had lost their village on the day the leaf fell, 3 years ago.

Shikamaru stood up and walked to his girlfriend. She gave him an apologising look which said the words she had said so many times over the past 3 years. He had forgiven her every single time, as a matter of fact, he had never blamed her. She may had been a part of their enemies but since the day they had fought at the chuunin exam, she had become a part of them, a part of him. She risked her life every single day for them by spying for them as their insider and visiting him as often as she could. But she would never except the fact she did have any blame, she would always feel sorry, despite the many times he had told her different.

_'Troublesome woman'_

But today was also just another day of work that had to be done in order to reach their ultimate goal, they could not slip off now. They had to get started and work, just like everyday since 'that' day. He was no longer being called 'lazy' all the time, his lazy days, his naive days were over since his mother died in front of his eyes by the hands of some sound ninja's. Or since the day his house had been burned to the ground, his father was captured and had failed to capture or kill him. All at the same time, all at the same day; he had then grown up. He still wasn't hyper active, or had lost the love for sleeping, but he was motivated, 'using his frikin' big brains for the good of mankind', as Naruto liked to put. But if anyone had told him 3 years ago he he had to go and motivate Naruto right now, no one, including himself, would have believed it.

But the old Naruto had died, together with his dream, village and first crush. Naruto had changed over the years. Except for moments like these, he was still motivated and hard working, caring and even a little bit over optimistic, once in a while.But his innocence and (most of) his density had died along Sakura**(1) **that day. _'Without his girlfriend' _Shikamaru thought, _'he probably would have turned out far worse' _Naruto was probably the strongest out of them, but not because of his power, _'Although he could probably kill us all in a couple of heartbeats, if he really wanted to' _But because of his unrivaled determination, and the feeling he gave you by just being at your side, which pulled them through the hard times, even when he himself had lost it.

His eyes pierced now right through the depths of cerulean. They both nodded, and he turned his gaze to their other teammate. The tree of them didn't need words anymore to understand each other. They maybe had lost everything, but had also gained something; each other. They had chosen to rebel, to fight and risk their life with no guarantee to success. They had found a new home, the Konoha underground network. They had made new allies, one more unlikely than the other. They, the tree dead last of their graduation year, although all for their own reason, where ironically now one of the last free ninjas of konoha.

Hinata's eyes pierced his, understanding what he said and gave him a smile, /_Don't give up, we will make it/_and he returned it in his own way. She had changed a lot. She had become person with a goal, determined and never backing down when it became hard, but had never lost her caring and gentle nature. She was like a sister to him and like a long time wife to Naruto, always pulling them through, keeping the family together. She had lost her innocence, just like all of them, but had also lost her fear, because she would never let anything happen to the ones she cared about. Naruto had helped her overcome her shyness and he had helped her develop her talents, just like she had helped them. Yeah, she had changed, not to say she had become a stunning woman. Of course, nobody can remain ineffective by the flow of time. He himself was probably most unrecognisable, because he had abandoned his trademark high ponytail for a longer low one**(2)**, and had grown quite tall. Naruto had became quite tall himself but his hair was just a little bit longer than before, with at the back of his head a small low pony tail.**(3)**

The tree of them walked out of the room of light and water to fulfill today's mission. The room, their main chamber, was a high, large and oval room made out of rock and connected many corridors to each other. It was also one of the only rooms which was naturally lit, because of the small opening in the ceiling. Under the opening was a small lake with clean water, which reflected the water into the rest of the room, enlightening the entire room most of the day. Since most of the chambers and corridors were just rock and darkness and the room was the only room with with water, the room was always occupied. They were now walking to one of the 3 exits, the one behind the hokage monument, close to the Shikamaru's old home. They were completely silent, no words could help them, so they choose not to waste any. Today's objective involved the Hyuuga compound, a couple of scrolls the Hyuuga elders would use against Konoha if they weren't hidden to be exactly, so Hinata lead the way. As they successfully executed their mission. For the past 3 years they had trained like hell by almost every single member of their organisation, and where now even more stealthy than the best ANBU around and had formed said organisation;

'Shizuka'**(4)**

There were tree rebellion organisations, one inside, led by Sarutobi Asuma and Hyuuga Hiashi. They contained most of the former leaf shinobi who were all imprisoned and enslaved, just like the most of Konoha. Although many had died 'that' day, some also manged to escape, or were later freed by the other organisation; 'Liberté'**(5)**and had in most cases also joined said organisation. Together with some old allies they were quite large, but that was also their downfall; it was impossible for them to stay unnoticed. Not that they stood a chance anyway, because no group led by Maito Gai and Morino Ibiki could ever go unnoticed. Their main goal was feeing captured ninja's, so their army could become big enough to overthrow Orochimaru and the other leaders.

And last, there was their own group, 'Shizuka', led by the tree of them, Itatchi and Anko. They had chosen this name because they were the most silent and secret group. As a matter of fact, the only ones who knew of it's existence were it's members, Jiraya and Ibiki, and the he only knew there was 'another rebellion small rebellion group' led by Anko and 'some other konoha ninjas'. It had been Shikamaru's idea to keep absolute secrecy, because of their perfect location. They operated right under the new Hokage's nose, literally! Anko would often report their progress to him and he would in return tell them about their plans. But he didn't even know their hideout. Hell, who would expect the remains of an old forgotten ninja village and an old spionagenetwork of corridors, dating centuries ago, under the former Village hidden in the Leaves? The answer is: Jiraya, the master of peeking! He had brought a couple of ex-ninjas to their organisation and often stayed with the for a while, usually to be kicked out by his former team mate, Tsunade again. During his stays he had taught Naruto and the others many useful things, (and some other less useful things), just like the rest of the members.

After completing their mission and tonight's activities, they went stargazing, just like every night. Every night, although it was always close to be called morning, he would thank kami for the fact Naruto once fell through a hole and discovered their new home, and remembered it just when they needed it really badly. He would thank kami for the fact Uchiha Itatchi also had found this place and inhabitated it so he could keep a close eye on his little brother. He would thank kami for the genius the man was, and his willingness to help and train them in everyway. He would thank kami for the time they had accidently kidnapped Anko, and dragged her over to this place and even the fact she had decided to stay and tortu - I mean teach them in a whole new way. He thanked kami for their allies, for the 19 people their group counted.

He thanked Kami for his new friends, his new family, even when he couldn't forget his old ones.

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**(1)**Yes, I killed Sakura, but I don't really like her in the first part of the series, and someone had to die, so I choose her. Don't flame me because of that.  
**(2)**A bit like Itatchi's, but shorter and without the emo death glare (no offence to Itatchi, but I think it belongs to him)  
**(3)**Except for the cloak, he basically looks like he does in this pic: http: /(2x) orin.deviantart/ art/ Naruto-Within-63147299 (copy and erase the spaces)  
**(4)**Japanese for silence  
**(5)** Yes I know, very original.

POLL TIME!

1st: The remaining members of 'Shizuka', everyone except for rookie 9 and the jonin sensei's.

2nd: who has died during the invasion:

Lee

Kiba

Akamaru

Neji

Hanabi

Kurenai

Kakashi

or others, just review me..

Then, I say goodbye and hopefully, see you soon.

Ja ne!


	2. From Cloudwatching to Stargazing

**ARC 1  
_The first steps to Victory_**

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_A/N:_Today we officially start with the first arc, on the first day of Autumn 2008! What a coincidence... Anyway, this arc will be an introduction arc as well as the preparations of the first real missions. It will contain 3 chapters, this being the first one. **After those chapters, I will close the polls, so vote, before it's to late!**You can find them at the end of the chapter. I will try to update every Monday or Sunday, but I'm still in High school so I have to work hard, so sometimes it will be delayed. **By the way, I need a beta! If you would like to do it, please contact me!**

**BTW: Don't own! **

"Speaking" _'Thinking' /Unspoken words/ Flashback_ "**Demon speaking"_ "Demon thinking"_**

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**_From Cloudwatching to Stargazing: A day of Nara Shikamaru_**

_"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable."_ D.T. Gentry

The water reflected some sunlight in his face, and pulled him out of his slumber. He opened his eyes; he was alone in the room of light and water. It was still quite early, about 12 o'clock, and most people were probably still asleep in their 'bedrooms'. When he tried to stand up, he noticed he had fallen asleep on the water. The memories of last night flooded back into his mind. After a fairly easy infiltration into the Hyuuga compound, they had entered the secret library which contained scrolls about the many Hyuuga secrets, such as the birdcage seal. They had searched and found their mission objective: 14 scrolls with further information about said seal and the many possibilities of its usage. It was of grave importance, not only because they needed it, but because their enemy was working together with some Hyuuga elders, who had placed birdcage seal upon all their prisoners and citizens in order to control them. So even when a prisoner was freed by them or Liberté, they could still be tortured if they came to close to Konoha. So it had became one of their main objectives to find a way to remove the seal, since frankly, no one had ever done that before. Lucky for them, Hinata knew of the existence of the secret library and had proved to be a real prodigy when it came to sealing. She also showed great talent in healing and fighting with poisoned weapons. Thanks to her bayugan and great chakra control.

After obtaining the scrolls and taking 2 scrolls about a secret Juuken technique with them 'in case Hinata get's bored', they sneaked out of the compound and left Konoha without being noticed. Only 2 hours ather their departure of the room of light and water, they re-entered it, just in time to see Itatchi leave for his own mission, which concerned 'receaving' new medical supplies from the messager and killl the guy, so no one knew they had stolen his merchandise.

After a great lunch together in which they talked about 'the good old times' avoiding the subject of three years ago, Hinata disappeared to her seal chamber, somewhere in the underground network, only taking with her a couple of candles, a bottle of water and their previously taken scrolls with her. Knowing her, she would be locking herself up for the rest of the day and night, in order to perfect her seals with the new information. On times like these, she only left her obsession for food, water, missions and stargazing, and no body was allowed to visit her, except for Shikamaru and Naruto. Although they hardly did during those times, knowing she needed time for herself to concentrate.

_'Everybody needs to be alone sometimes'_

After Hinata's unofficial seclusion, Naruto and he had been training with gaara, one of their other members and a part of, as he liked to call it, 'Naruto's other family'**(1)**. But Gaara and Naruto had become to enthusiastic after a while (although both in a completely different way) and ended up being so destructive, he didn't feel safe around them. So hi had been working on his latest work: the description of an ancient Nara scroll, which they had stolen last week. He finally finished transilating the ancient language, and had studied the old style, named Inner Darkness. It had taken him till dawn to master the principles of the style, which used the opponents 'darker moments in his life'. He had found it hard to concentrate, because his mind kept wandering to 'that' day. He stopped to find Naruto entering his room, telling him to come, and together they got Hinata out of her room. Then the three of them went out of the Underground, to their favorite stargazing spot in the Forest of Death. By the time most of the stars had faded against the bright light of a brand new day, they'd returned to their home in complete silence. He had talked with Temari for a while, but she had to go back in order to remain unnoticed, leaving him alone in the room. He had read and practised his new technique till his eyes wouldn't open anymore, and embraced the slumber of sleep.

He wasn't really surprised anymore to wake up on the water, since he slept a lot on the water, claiming it was softer than the softest bed. The reason he didn't sink was one of Anko's training exercises. She told them afterwards that chakra control of that grade had to become a basic skill, even when you didn't think about it. But of course, who else would create such an exercise?

**Flashback; _2 years, 10 months and 4 days ago_**

_Anko had led her newest students (to which she liked to refer as 'her little minions') to the middle of the lake in the room of light and water after an exhausting aim practise. Needles to say, they where at the end of one's tether. _

_"So", She said with a sweet ness that was so false they couldn't help but brace themselves for what was about to come, knowing Anko. "I think it's time to rest, so sit down and listen little minions of mine, cause I'm not going to say it twice."_

_So they sat down n the water, which was fairly easy after last months training. But something just wasn't right, I mean, who would rest at the middle of a lake?_

_"But why not train while resting?"she added with a fake sweetness, but hints of a sadistic smile evident on her face. /Muhahaha!/ "So till you have fully mastered this skill, you are not to leave the water. Sweet dreams!" she said, and lay down on the water, sinking just enough in it to remain dry, yet to be covered by the warm water. _

_The 'three little minions' just stared at her in disbelieve. How where they supposed to rest or even sleep on the water? They couldn't just control their chakra in their sleep!_

_"Hurry up, maggots, before I change my mind and let you make push-ups on the water instead of sleeping!"_

_They looked at each other. /She's got a maggot in her head/ But did what she said anyway._

**End Flashback**

Eventually, it wasn't that hard, although it was very troublesome to get woken up by lungs in a dire need of air. But in a few days, Hinata and mastered the skill. It had felt so good when he had woken up without being wet at all for the first time. Tooo bad he fell in the water anyway because of the surprise. It had done great things to his entire fighting style, although it wasn't such a massive change as by the time Naruto had mastered the excercise, Two weeks after his and Hinata's accomplishments. He could probably split the earth in two by putting only a quater of his own chakra in his punches, and was therefor forbidden to use his inhuman strenght inside the HQ, except for his later trainings with Tsunade. His stamina had also improved a great deal, because with his chakra reserve alone he could be going for weeks, and then the Kyuubi's kicked in.

He continued with his scroll, which had for some reason remained dry. 'Inner Darkness'**(2)**was a mainly genjutsu style, and all 7 jutsus used one's mind against him, by using it's memories, although one of them was a medical jutsu which could take away one's memories, but only in a limited form. The style was only adjustable for his own bloodlimit, and you also had to have a great chakra control. Because of this and the fact most Nara's where very lazy, the scroll had been forgotten ages ago. Luckily, he had a chakra control that matched Tsunade's after Anko'straining, and he could find the motivation to work on it. The one rule was eye contact, even with the ninjutsu. As soon as it was broken, the jutsu was broken as well. He decided to test the first and easiest jutsu on the list on one of their testdummies a.k.a. prisoners. They were actually there for interrogation, but when they wouldn't talk, they would become testdummies till they did, like this one.

"Good evening" he said as he entered the chakra prison. The man, hardly in his twenties, woke up and made a great mistake; looking directly in his eyes. Quickly running through four handseals, he used the genjutsu;"_;Kage: Yami no ma chi gai"; _Shikamaru immediately saw it had worked, since his victim showed all signs of the jutsu. After 2 minutes he released the genjutsu. Failure was written on the mans face, making him seem years older. It was a nasty jutsu, which convinced the victim one of his last decisions was a mistake. Simply, it could take one's complete motivation away, because they would not believe their goal was so right and true anymore. But a stronger mind, like Naruto's would not suffer of this jutsu, which made a great downfall to the justu. But his man was quite strong of mind, so he remained silent, trying not to show his fear, yet avoiding eye contact.

Deep inside, Shikamaru had deep respect for this man. Too bad he was his enemy. otherwise he would hod this man in his highest regards.

He decided he would leave the man alone, for today that is. Tomorrow he would get him to speak of his masters with an even better justu. So he left a bottle of water in the cage and closed the door like screen behind him, not before sending a shiver through the man's spine by saying: "See you tomorrow"

It had to be around 2 o'clock, so breakfast should soon begin. Since when did he start getting up this early? Normaly, the three of them would be last to get up, much to to Tsunade's and Itatchi's displeasure.. Speaking of his friends, he should wake them up, because otherwise Anko would do it. He wouldn't even wish his greatest enemy such a 'wake up call' although Orochimaru was close to it. He opened the door of their common bedroom, waking up naruto in the progress. Most of the time, the three of them shared this room, although Hinata tend to fall asleep during her obsessesions in her sealmentroom like today, and he sometimes did the same when he was stargazing through the opening in the ceiling of the room of light and water or when he was reading on the water, such as today.

Shikamaru gave him a lazy smile and said '' Breakfast'' Then Naruto opened his eyes, stared at him and out of the nowhere, his entire body tensed. Shikamaru had a lot of experience with Naruto's incredible senses, and knew this could only mean two thing's, although he already knew what it was. In a second Naruto stood next to him, fully dressed, sending him the message he already figured out himself:

_/Anko/_

"Good morning!**(3)**I just send Anko to get you guys!" Said Itatchi with a sadistic smile on his face. _/Curse you, Itatchi!/_He was probably the only blind man in the world who could cook, although Naruto kept claiming he used his sharingan to look and copy Tsunade's cooking skills,but had yet to find the evidence. They all ate their soup, which was really good by the way, and after a while Anko joined in, with a dissapointed look evident on her face. He could swear he heard Itatchi whisper barely adioble to her to be quieter next time, and judging the look on Naruto's face, he was correct. They continued their conversation about last night's mission, and he noticed Hinata had a happy glance in her eyes. _'she wouldn't have completed it, would she?' _

After breakfast, most members left for their individual missions or training sessions, only to leave Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Itatchi and a still disappointed Anko in the room. Today was a Monday, and they always had a meeting on mondays. They took cleaned the remainders of breakfast and took their own place on the water. The first part of this weekly meeting would be leader exclusive. Not that there where any real secrets, it was just a habit from the beginning which they kept up. The second part was an obligation to every member, accept for those who where on a long therm mission or infiltrated at the enemy, such as Temari, although she always tried her hardest to make it anyway. It was always held at dawn, and usually lasted about an hour. The third part was only for those who were invited, and discussed private matters, but was usually really short.

"I hereby open the first meeting of the Fourth year" Spoke Itatchi, Sharingan now activated.

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**(1)**The other Jinchurikis who are part of the organisation, for those who didn't get it. Yugito and Gaara are in it anyway, and the rest is up to you, my dear voters!  
**(2)**This new style is not going to be a major part of Shikamaru's fighting, it more illustrates my vision on the expansion of his ability. Before he found this scroll, he also found a couple of other scrolls and has learned the jutsus, even created a couple new one's. If you have any Ideas concerning this, please send them to me.  
**(3)**I know it's about 2 pm, but in their schedule it's morning, comprendre?

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**Original Jutsus:**

_Kage: Yami no ma chi gai: (Shadow: Darkness of a mistake, or something like that)_genjutsu, bloodlimit only.  
The first of the seven Inner Darkness techniques, only usable by members of the Nara clan. It was lost for many years due to laziness and the high chakra control it takes. The style uses the victim's inner darkness to consume itself. The great downfall is the fact the user must remain eye contact. The Jutsu convinces the victim one of his last decisions was a mistake. Simply, it can take away one's complete motivation, because he would not believe his goal was so right and true anymore. But a stronger mind will not suffer of this jutsu.

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**Poll 1; ****Who died during the invasion?**

**Kakashi 1  
Kurenai 3  
Lee 1  
Neji 1  
Hanabi 1  
Ino 1  
Sasuke 1**

**Anybody else? Why did nobody vote Konohamaru or such? And what is that 'kill kurenai' stuff?**

**Poll 2: Other members of the resistance**

**Pein 1  
Konan 1  
Tenten 1  
Zetsu 1  
Hidan 1**

**Anybody else? **

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Any suggestions are welcome. The next chapter will be:  
_Unsealing Fate: The accomplishments of Hyuuga Hinata_

The third chapter will most likely be named:  
_From Burden to Blessing: A Friendship of Uzumaki Naruto_

_See you next time, and don't forget to review!_

_Ellisama_


	3. Unsealing Fate

**A NEW RECORD! I NEVER WROTE THIS MANY WORDS IN ONE DAY FOR A FANFICTION! **Yeah, I wrote this in 2 hours, didn't proof read it by the way.... STILL NEED A BETA!

Anyway, sorry for the wait, but I couldn't really put it on the paper, if you get what I mean. Have been reading your mails though. Love them, thank you, again. By the way, I think of **killing Sasuke**, would anybody mind?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, I do own this fic, but I don't own . In case you hadn't noticed.. ^^'

ANYWAY: Enjoy! Won't make you wait this long again, I promise! (believe it!)

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**_Chapter 2 ~ Unsealing Fate: The Accomplishments of Hyuuga Hinata_**

_"Control your fate, or somebody else will."_~ Heinrich von Pierer

'_Finally'_, was her last thought before she fainted from every possible kind of exhaustion, but with a content smile plastered on her face. _'I will safe you father, I promised'_ And she fell on the cold stone floor.

When she woke up, only two hours later, she found herself in her sealing room, in the middle of many scrolls and ink. A smile graced her features, memories her mind. She would be able to fulfil the promise she made to herself long ago, and this was another step forward. This step was an essential turning point in their actions, called 'the Chameleon'. Then she noticed she was bleeding, and quickly stood up, but almost fell down again. While regaining her balance, she went through last night events.

After their stargazing session in the woods, the memories started to return piece by piece now, _'Right, I passed out after the completion.' _She concluded. She quickly healed her already healing wounds and decided she would go see what time it was, since it was hard to tell, and if Anko would come and get her, it would be… just like that time…

'_Horrible'_

Arriving in the room of light and water, she noticed she was just in time, but apparently her brother and boyfriend weren't. A small chuckle escaped her mouth at the thought of Anko, especially since Itachi was grinning in a very uncharacteristic way. But she knew Naruto, or better Naruto's senses, so didn't really worry, and sat down at the chair-like cushions, next to Yugito, who was having a conversation with Tsunade and Shizune about the difference between the countries. But although it was quite interesting, she wasn't really paying attention to it. Her mid was still full of thoughts about latest accomplishment, and the pride filled her with joy, which didn't happen very often.

Finally, the 2 boys entered and they started their breakfast. They talked a bit, but she wasn't really paying attention, although only Shikamaru noticed her thoughts were somewhere else. He raised an eyebrow _/you didn't…?/_

She could only smile _/You'll see/ 'You'll see Father, You'll see Neji'. _And her mind started wandering again.

By the time she came back to reality, everybody had already finished breakfast, and the room was cleaned. She sealed of the doors quickly an took her position on the lake, just like Anko, Itachi, Naruto and Shikamaru took their own. They sat in a circle, facing each other, but remaining distance.

She barely heard Itachi open their meeting, but his staring sharingan pulled her out of her train of thoughts.

"First;" He started "The food reserves are running low. We should fill them as soon as possible. I suggest we send on person out tonight, don't you agree?"

"I agree" said Shikamaru in a semi-lazy/semi-interested tone. The rest of the group just nodded and he continued after a quick moment of planning. "Yugito is in charge of the food reserves, I suggest we sent her and Gaara to get some food, she knows what we need." Everybody nodded again.

Then silence

She took a deep breath, tried to take away the insecurities, knowing she never would, and fought down th upcoming urge to stutter. Then, she spoke: "The Chameleon is finished" She closed her eyes, and walked away, feeling the smiles rather than seeing them, knowing they had no doubt in her, trying to forget her own.

She left the room in a very awkward silence. Beside from Shikamaru, nobody could really predict the consequences of this sentences, and watched the door in silent confusion. He just smirked and started planning, like he would soon do a lot. When she returned, she dragged a blindfolded prisoner behind her. Stationing him in the middle of the lake and keeping him in place with chakra strings and, she started drawing in the water and over the already sealed forehead of the man. Drawing sealing patterns. The Chameleon Seal**(1).** With trembling hands but a steady mind.

She first started with a 5 inner rings, connected with some kanjis, and surrounded them with small lines in blood. It was a flawless pattern which repeated itself many times, always as precise and perfect as the first one, yet drawn at a almost unrivalled speed. While the seal started to take shape, the others could only watch in awe. Finally, she spoke.

"I have developed a new seal, which, in theory, should nullify the affect of het bird cage seal. It merges with the birdcage seal in approximately 2 minutes. When you activate the seal, it will disappear along with the bird cage seal. Which means.." She paused a second, having a hard time believing her own words, yet feeling proud, knowing, deep inside, they were true. "We will finally be able to free prisoners"

The reactions of her audience were mixed. Naruto was silent, but smiling a true smile. Knowing Naruto as well as she did, she knew this was a sign of true happiness.

Shikamaru was deep in thought. She figured he had already known what she was about to say when they were having breakfast. But the small glint in his eye betrayed the happiness he really felt inside.

Anko was grinning a very weird grin. It was not her sadistic smile, her usual smile, but a much softer version of it. She hadn't seen it before very often, but knew the woman was remembering events, probably not very happy ones, but they gave her hope anyway.

Itachi had deactivated his Sharingan from shock. He had been the least involved in the entire bird cage seal project, and although a normal human wouldn't be able to tell, his friends would recognise his slightly wide-eyed and dumfound expression as a definite shock.

She herself could feel only pride, in her work and in herself, as she finished the last parts of her seal with blood and chakra, completing the large seal which covered a square meter of the water and most of the prisoners forehead.

"And.. it works?" Asked Naruto suddenly, pointing at the slightly glowing patterns. Two hopeful eyes and a insecure smile begged for a yes.

She smiled and blushed at his sweetness. In the ocean of cerulean, there was no hint of doubt. She doubted he would even hear the word no, or take anything else than yes for an answer.

She replied with a smile of her own.

"It hasn't been tested yet…"_/But it will work/_

A sadistic smile returned on Anko's face. Although it was very creepy, she was used to it, and continued none the less. Then she started drawing another pattern over the seal, a small blood based crescent, in scripted with the kanji's of freedom and Spring.

The seal started to glow even brighter, as she touched it, whispering the "Kameron Fujin, Merge" so silently, only Naruto could hear it.

Then, one by one, the circles dissolved and the man's forehead started to glow for a few minutes. During this time, no word was spoken, they were as silent as the dead. Then, the glow disappeared, but the birdcage seal seemed unchanged.

Even before Naruto could ask "what now" Hinata spoke again, a lot louder this time.

"Kameron Fujin, Kai!"

As she saed that, the ink became liquid again and it dripped of his forehead. The birdcage seal was no more.

"I did it" And she collapsed again, but knowing the first step to victory was made. Just vefore her vision turned black, she felt the warmth of his arms as he caught her, and the smile on his face. "Naruto-kun…."

"Yes you did, Hinata-chan." He whispered softly in her ear, and gently placed her on his lap, watching her for a second. _'She's so cute when she sleeps, so innocent.'_

"You know what this means, right?" he said with a mixed tone. "this means we finally get some real action!"

"Not so fast, Naruto" Said Itachi sternly, but with a small smile evident on his face. "we have to plan this completely, as soon as possible."

"I propose we gather all our members right now and discuss this in one hour." Shikamaru cut him off. "The people who we are unable to reach by that time will come 1 hour later anyway for the meeting at dusk. With some luck, we can start getting people out of there tonight, although that also depends on Hinata." He turned to Naruto. You just take care of Hinata, make sure she wakes up soon. We need her there."

And Naruto would never complain when Shikamaru was seriously telling him what to do, and when it involved spending time with Hinata, the thought wouldn't even enter his mind. So he obeyed soundless and took her out of the room, into the darkness.

"See you at 4 o'clock"

* * *

"What?" Where am I… Naruto-kun"

15 minutes had past and Naruto was still sitting in their common bedroom, just when Hinata woke up. He smiled as she realised where she was, and who he was.

"Hey beautiful, relax, you deserve it" He told her and pushed her gently back at her futon. "we are having an emergency meeting in 45 minutes. Till then, I'm ordered to keep you in bed." This wasn't exactly true, but he figured a small lie wouldn't mind, and it was for her own good.

Hinata blushed at his touch, embracing the feeling, the smile on his face. "How long have I been out?"

"About 15 minutes"

"15 Minutes?! Ano… what have you been doing all this time?"

"Watching you sleep" he said with flushed cheeks, but a dreamy gaze. Silently, and without any complain from her side, he decreased the personal distance, slowly, till their foreheads touched.

"I could do it all my life"

And he started kissing her, softly, on the lips. She felt a special kind of happiness enter her hart, and didn't mind kissing him back. When their lips parted, she couldn't help but giggle slightly, much to Naruto's confusion.

"I thought about how I dreamed of waking up like this when I was younger" She explained with a smile. "Doesn't that prove that dreams do come true?"

"I don't believe in fate, but I do believe in the inevitable. I do believe we were destined for each other." He said in a soft, yet serious tone, but a foxy smile plastered on his face.

'Fate'. The very thing her clan worshipped, yet she had her doubts. Somethings, or so she believed, where indeed meant to be, but that didn't mean you couldn't make your own choices. But she hadn't chosen to just fall in love with him, she just did. Completely, years ago. But it had been her choice not to give up when he hadn't recognised or returned her feelings. And it had been her choice to follow him, out of all people running around, and fight with him, while she could be safe somewhere in some other country, instead of training and working all day for something they could maybe never reach.

But it had been his choice to let her into his hart, which had been way more bitter than she could have ever expected. Although it all made sense, after learning of his childhood. He always seemed so warm and open, but deep inside he was way colder and closed. When she actually started to work with him more everyday, and live with him all day, she noticed it for the first time. She didn't know a thing of him. And it wasn't just her, she found out after she had talked about it with Shikamaru some days later.

"Eek!" Then, suddenly, she felt his lips again, and lost her balance of the sudden touch, but he caught her. She had been so deep in thought she didn't even notice how Naruto was looking at her, and had lost his self control. But she kissed him back, softly, just before they parted again.

"You know you're a kiss addict, don't you?" She told him, but it was obvious she had no complains.

"No way I'm going to quit, if that's what your implying!" He said, faking being hurt with a trembling lower lip and teary eyes.

"No, I won't fall for that!" Although she knew she would, and really, really didn't mind. It was their little game, and Naruto's eyes were a trump card, insuring success, and he knew it.

"Oh, who cares" She pretended to give up, and started another make out session.

'_After all the bad things happened to us, I still can't be unhappy'_ She felt slightly guilty, knowing her father and cousin where somewhere less nice, and didn't have this love or freedom. _'They probably think I'm dead.'_

But she didn't pay much thought to it, because Naruto's mouth demanded all her attention.

And not that she minded, of course.

* * *

Time flew as a butterfly, yet peacefully and happy to be with each other, while the rest of the base was a complete chaos, which they would soon take part of. It was time to move, to plan. To come out and fight, to return the freedom. They knew they could not 'just take Konoha back' in one day, one week, one month or even a year.

The same thing went through Shikamaru's mind, while he was sitting on the lake. They had left him to start planning their moves, while Anko and Itachi gathered the members.

'_Our forces are small, which is our advantage and disadvantage. It's not really great since we can't do much at a time, but it's a good thing because we can remain a secret. But the 'secret' part is also a__ double sided issue.'_ He analysed silently, going through the rough facts. _'Because we are a secret, we can get people out of there, but it has to happen very slowly, otherwise they will find out and than we're not a secret anymore, and I doubt if we could survive a frontal attack on our base.'_

'_But Liberté is a known group, maybe if we learn them how to use the seal, they could free many people. They have the people to do it… But they have not the possibility. Their number is their strength and downfall. And if the enemy finds out about the seal, they will find a way to block it, and we're back at the start…' Then the idea stuck him._

'_Working from the inside out, working from the shadows. We need to infiltrate. And we got just the people and moves to do it.'_

A newfound smile graced his features, as he solved the details, mumbling something about Kaze Bunshin, Gen'ei Fujin and Kaze: Suteppu, while the room was beginning to fill with the remaining 18 members.

"A New Era Awaits"

* * *

**(1)**This Jutsu will be an important part of the story, but it takes a lot of time and skill to do so. If anybody has any ideas for how it should work, _**PM ME!**_

* * *

**Original Jutsus:**

**Kameron Fujin :**** (Chameleon Seal) **A powerful S-Class Seal created by Hyuuga Hinata. It merges with almost any kind of seal it's placed upon, and when released, removes them both. Exceptions will be explained later. It takes great precision to draw, has to be completely flawless and requires blood and chakra as well as an exceptional control of it. Therefor it is a dangerous Seal if it is not done properly. The consequences are painful or even lethal for both victim and caster. A basic for supreme removing or merging seals, as later on will be explained.

**Gen'ei Fujin : ****(****Vision Seal.) **AnA-class basic appearance manipulation seal which cannot be detected by any doujutsu. It is quite common, yet hard to master, just like all Fujin Jutsu. More will be revealed soon.

**Kaze: Suteppu**** :**** (Shadow: Step) **An B-class 'teleportation' Jutsu only used by those who posses the ability to manipulate Shadows. More will be revealed later.

* * *

**A/N:**CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU! Although only a slight one. I learned it From Leaf Ranger, by the way! THANKS FOR TEACHING ME ANOTHER WAY TO TORTURE SOMEONE'S MIND!

And, as I said before: I NEED A BETA! Would you like to do it? MAIL ME!

I'm actually quite certain the Nara's Shadow Possession techniques are not a blood limit, but imagine it is! The possibilities! So in this fic, it is. Deal with it.

By the way, the polls are going good. BUT I'M NOT GOING TO KILL INO! I have a great purpose for her in this story. Also, maybe Sakura has survived, only Naruto thought she died, because he was trapped in a genjutsu. Would prove interesting, am I wrong? I could test Naruto's love for Hinata and his ability to remain sane, at the same time! ~insert sadistic laughter~

Last: Would anybody care if I _**killed of Sasuke? **_I have the perfect excuse, and it would be a great motivation for Itachi to get out of his peaceful ways (not that I don't like them, don't get me wrong.) But would it do the story good? Just tell me what to do

Poll is still open by the way.  
**Who died?**

**Who are in the resistance?**

Till next time

Ellisama

Next time:

A New Era Awaits: The unlikely Friendships of Uzumaki Naruto


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